Volunteers to repaint historic Pioneer Sholes School museum fence in St. Charles
Author Mark Twain tells us in “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” that young Tom figured out a way to convince boys passing by his yard that there was some value and fun in whitewashing his Aunt Polly’s fence. It was a job he was supposed to take on.
As the story goes, Tom was so convincing that boys eager to do the work actually gave him something in return for the chance to whitewash.
It takes no such bribery for volunteers to do the modern-day version of whitewashing in taking on the task of painting the several yards of fence around the Pioneer Sholes School museum in LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve.
In walking through the preserve last week, it was easy to see the one-room school’s fence could use a fresh coat of paint. As I have before when noticing some of our historic sites needing a little TLC, I checked in with the Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley.
Turns out, the Kane County Forest Preserve District, which owns the 1872 schoolhouse, the Durant Peterson Museum and two large barns in LeRoy Oakes on the west side of St. Charles, has the painting project under control.
The district is hosting a group of employees from Toyota for a National Public Lands Day service event. Among other activities, they are planning to paint the fence around the Sholes School on Friday, Sept. 26.
“We have had the Toyota employees help out in past years,” said Debra Corwin, director of Durant House and Sholes School museums for Preservation Partners, which handles artifacts, educational work, group visits and events at the museums.
“They're a hard-working and fun group,” Corwin said. “We're lucky to have them work on our sites.”
I write about the historic barns and the Pioneer Sholes School at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve because they were the focus of some of the first articles we worked on when I was a new reporter at the Chronicle West in Elburn in 1977. A key story was about the relocation of the school to LeRoy Oakes, not too far from where a fellow named David Sholes built the school in Burlington Township.
Also, for a couple of decades, my service club worked closely with an organization called the Sholes School Society, headed by Art and Hazel Clauter.
Basically, we helped keep the school clean after students from area schools visited for a day, and we did other things to promote the historic settings in LeRoy Oakes.
My wife and I walk our dog there often, and I see things like the need for painting or repair work that would make the buildings in the preserve look better and last longer without losing their historic feel.
When mentioning these things, I am hoping it might encourage a youth group, Scout group or other organization to consider contacting the forest preserve district or Preservation Partners about helping with a task.
Last year, I mentioned the large dairy barn and smaller horse barn in the preserve were in need of repairs and paint. The forest preserve district acknowledged that maintenance work is on its radar.
That would be good, considering the historic aura these barns create near the Durant Peterson house and Sholes School.
Bryant and Jerusha Durant built a few barns on the property in the mid 1800s, but Godfrey Peterson tore a few down because of poor condition when he took over the property with wife Christina in 1886. Peterson established a successful dairy farm on the site, with 100 head of Holstein cattle, according to Preservation Partners records.
The larger barn was rebuilt after a Palm Sunday 1920 tornado damaged it and other farm buildings, the records note.
They make LeRoy Oakes the special place it is. Any effort to restore them in the spirit of Godfrey Peterson would be noble.
Finding your roots
I have seen a copy of a document from the Ellis Island immigration port in the early 1900s that indicates when my ancestors landed in New York City from Germany and Italy.
All of the family-tree names — Heun, Schabes, Dragonetti and Coglianese — and dates of arrival were there.
Problem is, I don’t know where that document is now or how it came about. It would take a bit of a hunt for me to locate it, especially because a lot of documents got passed around with my brother and sister when my mother died at age 96 about five years ago.
There is a potentially easier way to find this sort of information and keep track of it.
You can learn how to research genealogy and create a digital or paper record to take home at a St. Charles Library event.
Experienced and new genealogists alike are welcome to attend the St. Charles Library’s annual Genealogy After Hours event from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.
The library says it is offering access to its genealogy resources, including public computers, special databases, and the library wireless network for those who bring laptops.
Professionals and experienced volunteers will assist with research. Images can be saved to a flash drive, scanned, copied or printed. Tours of the library’s genealogy collection will be available.
Registration is required and limited to 30 participants, who can sign up by phone at (630) 584-0076, online at scpld.org or in person at the library’s research desk.
If you get hungry doing this kind of research, snacks and beverages are provided.
Mexican fare in Campton
A ride to Campton Hills had me asking what happened to the Mexican restaurant called Lupita’s Cocina on LaFox Road in the retail district close to Route 64.
That site, at 40W222 LaFox Road, is now Ikal y Sanse, also a Mexican cuisine restaurant.
On a social media post last week, Ikal y Sanse owners were thanking patrons for the support they have shown in the opening two weeks for the new restaurant.
It appears diners in and around Campton Hills still have a nice option when they have the urge for Mexican food.
Did you know?
Prior to becoming the DuPage Airport Authority in 1987, the task of overseeing DuPage Airport operations was in the hands of the Fox Valley Airport Authority.
A political tug of war in the mid 1980s showcased powerful DuPage politician James “Pate” Philip, an Illinois Senator for nearly three decades after his election in 1974.
He pulled the strings in Springfield for his county, paving the way for the airport takeover — and cementing the major say in what the future would hold for, up to that point, a smaller, rural airport. The airport land also was annexed to West Chicago in 1990.
Local leaders in Kane County and, specifically, the Tri-Cities area were involved with the FVAA. Prominent St. Charles resident Vern Oie was a chairman of that board prior to the DuPage takeover. The best interests of St. Charles and their neighbors to the south were always top discussion points.
Once DuPage wrested away what its officials felt was rightfully theirs to manage, it did not take long for the new authority to push through a major expansion of the airport. That work, with authority chairman Thomas Fawell of West Chicago in charge, began in earnest in 1990.
Tri-Cities mayors openly spoke against the expansion, or at least its fast timetable, but no longer had meaningful voices.
In addition to adding two longer north-south runways and making more use of the airport property’s 500-plus acres on the far western edge of DuPage County, the authority also established mandates not allowing subdivisions to be built around the airport property.
The development of Prairie Landings golf course was envisioned in the original expansion plan. Future development by private owners of airport hangars and aviation businesses would occur depending on market conditions.
Up until its closing, Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles was the closest entity to airport property.
Ideas for a stock car racing track on the south end of airport property and a new tollway to connect Chicago area expressways just to the west or east of the airport both petered out after initial discussions.
Philip, as Republican minority leader in the Senate, spearheaded the new tollway idea that resulted in north-south Interstate 355 opening in 1989, connecting I-55 in the south suburbs to I-290 in the north. But it was built farther east of the airport to help alleviate Route 53 traffic.
It was initially tabbed the DuPage Tollway, but later became Veterans Memorial Tollway.
• dheun@sbcglobal.net